My Eco-Complete will arrive soon! Help/advice?

[Autumnsky]

I have 5 bags of Eco-Complete to go into my 72G. Should be here Wednesday.

Any pointers or just dump it in, let settle and go from there?

No fish in there yet. Fluval FX5 will probably set up and test first, then turn off till it settles some.

Can I plant right away, does it leach? Do I need to do lots of pwc at first?

SSSSSooooooooooo excited.

Planning to add some sand. Intend to use very coarse Garnet sand in sunset colors if it is available when I go down to get it. (somewhere between 60-32-16 grit, which I understand is .4mm-1.2mm) Substrate calculator indicated around 140 lbs, so maybe 40 lbs of sand.

Looking for 3" on average?

Any help is appreciated, as well as tips and experiences!

 

[jetajockey]

Just dump it straight in, add the biomagnet clarifier packets, run the filter for a while and it should clear right up and you will be good to go.

 

[brennae]

I just bought eco-complete and it didn't come with packets of anything but the substrate was in a liquid. Did I miss the packets or did they change it and just put it in a liquid?

 

[Hholly]

Mine didn't come with packets either. But it settled right away. Nice stuff!

 

[DanTheGuppyMan]

I just started a new tank with EC. It comes in a huge bag with some gunky liquids, so I poured it all in some buckets and rinsed it good until the water came out clear and then I put it in the tank. No clouding what-so-ever! It holds down plants well, too

 

[jetajockey]

They may not use the clarifier anymore, it's been a few years since I've bought any.

 

[brennae]

I didn't rinse my eco-complete and it was just fine. I thought it said on the bag that you don't need to rinse. I assumed the liquid was in there for a reason but I don't know.

 

[DanTheGuppyMan]

I didn't rinse my eco-complete and it was just fine. I thought it said on the bag that you don't need to rinse. I assumed the liquid was in there for a reason but I don't know.

Well I didn't rinse it first either but it smelled terrible with that liquid in it so I rinsed the heck out of it and got that stink out of it lol and it was crystal when I filled it up

 

[Autumnsky]

The bags at the lfs had liquid in them.

My Eco is coming on Thursday, now a day delay from the DC inauguration back up. I work that day and the next, so kinda disappointed.

 

[Hholly]

I just dumped the whole bag in without rinsing. Mine didn't smell.

 

[Autumnsky]

I hope mine isn't frozen AND doesn't smell!!!

 

[DanTheGuppyMan]

I just dumped the whole bag in without rinsing. Mine didn't smell.

Consider yourself lucky then. It smelled horrific

 

[Hholly]

Consider yourself lucky then. It smelled horrific

Yikes!

 

[brennae]

MIne did come frozen! I ordered it from Amazon and I just let it thaw out at room temp. No smell.

 

[Autumnsky]

It's in the tank!

All the bags came Wednesday after all! Wasn't expecting it since delivery was moved to Thursday. Only had enough time to put it in the tank along with 20-25 lbs of Petco sand (which came with the tank).

It looks great of course! It is a little dark in there for me right now. Substrate, tank, stand and trim are all black as well as the back came black. I put in one hide cave also came with the tank. Putting in some plants and dw, not really doing a design yet. I want to see what it looks like. This weekend I should be starting a build thread!

My Eco=Complete has something new which is Florasomething (can't remember atm) for enhanced root development. It was cold but not frozen!!! Didn't even smell like anything really. Also very glad that it didn't smell!